Chemical Reaction
by Koher Javenal
Summary: A mission from Zed leads to a chain reaction of results, tearing the lives of the Vault Hunters apart. Also tearing people apart. Rating will go up as the blood sheds. ALSO! Update rush! New Chapters! Step right up for something I owe you! Or don't. If you don't want to. I guess.
1. A Stunning Discovery

**A Shocking Discovery**

Zero was staring intensely at the blue sky above, the black form of a bird occasionally moving across the glowing form of the sun.

On the roof of HQ, of course.

"_I am bored as shit./ Must find a task to perform / Or perish alone._" The Assassin spoke to himself softly, boredom evident in his tone, much more than usual.

"Zero!"

Zero's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar Commandos voice from below.

* * *

><p>Axton watched Zed work on his patient, bored out of his mind. He had asked everyone, including his comrades, if they had needed help. Multiple citizens had informed him that they did not, while a young boy had screamed something about stranger danger, kicked the soldier in the shin, and fled.<p>

Maya had seen the whole thing, and laughed for fifteen minutes about the kid having the right idea. Now Salvador, Zero, and Maya had been making Pedophile jokes every time they saw him.

"Axton?" The Soldier looked up at Zed, whom was looking down at him, the single light casting shadows that made him look rather creepy.

Axton noticed his hands were extended, vials clutched in each one. They were both the size on Insta-Health vials, and glowed different colors; one electric blue, the other radioactive green.

"What?" The Commando asked, confused.

"You look bored, son. I've got a job for yah. Take these to the Fire Hawks Lair.

The Fire Hawk, a mystical being that was worshipped and feared by the inhabitants of FrostBurn Canyon. It was also known as Lilith.

Axton grew a confused look on his face, his gaze shifting from the Vials to the Almost-Surgeon.

"You mean Lilith's Lair?" He asked, still not understanding what the Vials were.

Zed sighed.

"No, I meant the Fire Hawk's Lair."

Seeing how confused Axton was becoming, he explained.

"Lilith left the Fire Hawk's Lair, and, well, she left important data in it. We assume to one has been able to access it, but…" His face turned into a mask of worry.

"Someone seems to have taken her place."

* * *

><p>Axton left with the Vials in his hands.<p>

Zed had refused to tell him what they were; stating Axton would be told when "The time was right".

The Commando had learned that everyone he knew was busy.

Well, almost everyone.

"Zer0!" He called up.

In a moment, the Assassin poked his head over the edge of the roof, the crimson glow of the question mark on his face not quite reaching the ground below.

"Zed sent me on an errand. You look bored. Tag along." He said, loud enough for the Assassin to hear.

The question mark on Zer0's faceplate morphed into an LOL.

"I don't do 'Errands'. / I do important things, such / as harvesting life." He called down in a monotone.

Axton sighed. It was hard to get him to go anywhere since the Warrior had been defeated. The Assassins were the most exciting thing they had experienced since then. And that had been three months ago.

"It involves a fight!" Axton shouted. "Against a strong enemy!"

"_Oh dear."_ He thought. _"I hope he's strong."_

After a silent moment, Axton turned to leave, and ran into something.

The Commando backed away quickly, stumbling and cursing.

He looked up to direct those curses into a depressing force, when he saw whom he had run into.

"I knew you would change your mind!" He said triumphantly.

The Assassin simply stared, his gaze one of annoyance.

It was then Zer0 noticed the Vials in his friends hand.

"Is that part of this / Mystery mission you have / forced me to partake?" He asked, his voice rasping through the mask as he pointed to the Vials.

Axton looked down at them, realizing he had already forgotten he had been holding them. They were extremely light.

"I think so. Zed gave them to me. He was light on the details of what they do. Or the purpose of this mission in general." He said, staring into the swirling, glowing contents of the green Vial.

The Assassin needed more to go on.

"Where are we going? / What exactly did he tell? / And what did he not?" Zer0 questioned, snapping his fingers to get the Commando's attention.

Axton was feeling impatient, and simply stated: "I'll fill you in on the way. Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>I am back, and far too lazy to finish "Last Man Standing". I never plan any of my stories out. I get the basic idea of the plot, and go from there. Last Man Standing's plot was minimal. It was literally the Vault Hunters pissing around. Fear not, I WILL finish it. Sometime in the farnear future.**

**I hope for this story to be long. This story will be jumping about, though arcs and whatnot.**

**That was my original intent for. Eh. That first one.**

**It's been awhile.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy.**


	2. Arctic Exploration

**Chapter II**

**Arctic Exploration**

_**[Haven't played Borderlands in a while. Descriptions might be iffy.]**_

The Vault Hunters stopped by the Vending Machines, confused as to what they were looking at.

A large Nomad was shouting orders, as balls of fire flew from somewhere on the other side of the canyon, exploding and burning huts.

"What the hell?" Axton stated simply, looking at the chaos before him.

Zer0 stood unmoving; the orange and white flames were reflected off of his faceplate, causing it to look like it was glowing.

"I am not sure, but / it looks like a war, and they / are losing badly. " He said, his tone not changing, nor his voice wavering.

The Assassin tensed, before diving to the right as a ball of flame landed where he had been standing.

Axton looked to his right, then sprinted to cover behind the vending machine.

"Shit!" He cursed.

He looked to Zer0, whom rolled further to the right, behind a rock.

The Assassin had drawn an automatic Vladof pistol, holding it with both hands.

" We must find better / cover, or we will not last. / Over there, Axton." He shouted over the explosions and yelling.

Axton looked to where he was pointing, behind a few burning huts.

He looked back at Zer0.

"Our logic is to hide behind the huts that have already been hit by fireballs?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

He received no reply, mainly because the Assassin was gone.

The Commando did a double take.

Zer0 was already there, behind the huts.

"Damnit!" He yelled, running toward the huts and stumbling away from the explosions and gunfire.

He arrived and bent slightly, panting.

"That was… A dick… Move, Zer0." He said in between breaths.

"My reputation. / A small sacrifice for my / survival. Sorry." He said, not looking to sorry.

Axton glared at him. "Whatever."

A ;-; appeared on his visor, the glow illuminating the shadows the fire cast.

"We've gotta move. Those bandits hate the Fire Hawk, but I'm sure they'll settle for us, too." He said, peeking around the corner.

Zer0 peeked around the corner, his head above Axton's.

"We must go around / The fireballs will slow us down / making us targets." He said.

Axton looked up before tossing the green vial at him. Zer0 didn't miss a beat, catching it with one hand deftly.

"Take it. If we lose one or get split up, maybe we only need one." He said hopefully. "Also, if that one's acid, then I can't have my face messed up. You wear a mask all the time. Scars won't affect you!" He said, a grin on his face.

A frowny face illuminated Zer0's mask.

"Let's go." He said simply as fireballs smashed into the icy walls of the canyon, causing sections to collapse.

"_Before there is no place for us to go" _He thought, his eyes following a section of ice that fell, crushing the Nomad trying to create formations.

**I believe this was a shorter chapter. Slightly.**

**Next time, on Chemical Reaction!**

The blade arced diagonally, severing the Psyco's leg before stopping and being thrust into his midsection, several important organs hanging out of his back like party streamers. He looked down,, before looking back up at the frosted over glass faceplate staring directly at him. He returned the stare, before screaming; **"Soon you'll be on the stick, hmhm! RIGHT ON THE SHAFT, AS A FRICKEN' MEAT STEAK!" **he gave a laughbefore going limb, hanging from the sword, the blood pouring onto the snow dyeing it a crimson color slowed with the Psyco's heart.

"I have slain this beast / I do deserve a metal / "Chihuahua slayer"." Came the hollow echo of the Assassins voice, falling on deaf, and rather dead, ears.

**Seeyah! **


	3. An Attempt at Humor and An Attempt at

**Chapter III**

**An Attempt At Humor, And An Attempt At Humor.**

Zer0's thoughts were interrupted by a loud cracking noise. The Assassin looked to Axton before looking up, staring at the cracks spider webbing towards the sky.

"Shit." Was all the Vault Hunters had to say before diving in opposite directions, rolling through the soft snow and across the hard ice.

The Canyon shook as the thousands of pounds of ice crashed onto the ground, the deafening echo reaching the volcano tips of Eridium Blight.

Zer0 stumbled to his feet, his ears ringing and vision blurry; barley acknowledging the Psyco that ran up to him screaming about meat, before tripping and bashing his own face on a large chunk of ice.

The Assassin clicked on his Echo communicator, pulling his sword off of his back to use as a cane.

"Are you still alive? / If not; ignore this message / It can't help you now. " he said, waiting for a response. He did not have to wait long.

"Zer0?" came the Commando's voice from the other end of the transmission, followed by cursing.

"You are still alive. / The others would be upset / If you died out here." Zer0 greeted cheerfully.

The Assassin sensed the Axton's annoyance on the other end, and smirked.

"Good to see you too." The commando replied, as though his friend had said something along the lines of "Oh good, Axton! You're alive! I knew it! Let's grab some tea and biscuits, and take a carriage ride back to sanctuary!". A highly unlikely occurrence-even if Zer0 was more than a seemingly emotionless shell.

"Change of plans. We need to find our own ways to the lair, and preferably not in body bags" Axton stated grimly, his tone lacking humor.

The Assassin tilted his head thoughtfully, before saying; "Never fear, Axton / Pandora seems to hugely lack / in body bags. " He said. "Instead, they are just / eaten by maggots as they / slowly decompose." He said, with an unnerving tone in his voice.

The other end went silent for a while, before Axton spoke.

"Zer0?"

"Yes?"

Axton had a grave tone to his words.

"Was that an attempt at humor?" He waited.

Zer0 seemed to think it over, before finally stating: "Perhaps."

Axton decided to choose his next words carefully. "Don't try it again." He advised.

And then they ended the (Call?)

**Sorry if this chapter was of lower quality than the others. I decided this was going to be an epic saga, and am a bit rusty. Had you seen what I first typed, you would have left and never come back, assuming you were every here in the first place!**

**Well. More fights to come, more insanity, and hopefully a successful new thing.**

**Yup. That's what we're calling it now.**

**-Koher **


	4. Yoo Suk too!

**Chapter IV**

**Yoo suk too!**

Axton ducked to the right as a spray of bullets rained onto the wall of the Canyon behind him, sending shards of ice flying into the snow.

"SHIT!" Shouted a Nomad, hefting his shield in front of him to block Axton's returning fire. "Surround 'im!".

Axton did a circle. He had enemies on all sides, except for his back, which was coincidentally against the wall. Then he gave a short and quick bark of a laugh. "Yeah, good luck with that!" He called, dropping his turrets down on either side of him, crouching low.

He fired a short burst, barely audible over the rapid gunfire of his turrets. His shots took a Marauder in the chest, causing the bandit to jerk sharply with each impact—before crumpling to the ground.

Axton's victory was short lived as a Psyco wearing what appeared to be a long cape—A cloak—stepped out from behind the Nomad.

"**Oh ho ho ho, light the fires! I'm going to make eyeball stew out of your KIDNEY! And then—then I'm going to EAT YOUR EYEBALLS!"** He laughed, dramatically throwing his cloak back.

The wind was knocked out of Axton's lungs as he saw what the fabric concealed—An unsafe amount of explosives (as in any amount at all) strapped to the Psyco's chest.

The Commando flicked the switch on the side of his gun, and fired it in a fully automatic fashion. Multiple bullets clipped the Psyco's limbs, but it kept going, exploding a few meters from Axton.

"SHIT shit, damn it all!" He cursed, his vision blurring and ears ringing. Again.

"They get stupider and stupider." Cursed Axton as he wiped gore off of his face.

He turned to face the next group of "Morons" he would have to fight through before reaching the lair.

He simply sighed.

* * *

><p>The blade arced diagonally, severing the Psyco's leg before stopping and being thrust into his midsection, several important organs hanging out of his back like party streamers. He looked down, before looking back up at the frosted over glass faceplate staring directly at him. He returned the stare, before screaming; <strong>"Soon you'll be on the stick, hmhm! RIGHT ON THE SHAFT, AS A FRICKEN' MEAT STEAK!" <strong>he gave a laugh before going limp, hanging from the sword; the blood pouring onto the snow dyeing it a crimson color slowing with the Psyco's heart.

"I have slain this beast / I do deserve a metal / "Chihuahua slayer"." Came the hollow echo of the Assassins voice, falling on deaf, and rather dead, ears.

"**I'M GOING TO WRITE A CHRISTMAS SPECIAL, HUAHA! IT'S GOING TO BE FULL OF OCEAN AND SEEEEMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN!" **Comes a cry, shortly cut off as Zer0 spun, swinging his sword and slashing the Psyco's thoat.

Zer0 continued, heading towards the lair.

* * *

><p>The Vault Hunters met at the entrance, the traps lining the cave visible from where they were standing—and everywhere around it.<p>

Axton spoke first. "I don't get it. How do they not see those? They just throw themselves into the fire, like they're freakin' invisible." He said, his eyes tracing the pipes that conveyed flame and doom.

"Bandits never change. / Their perception limited / to their IQ; Low." The Assassin stated, his face a mask of disgust.

The Vault Hunters continued through the cave, eventually coming to a large gate. It was made out of darkly colored bars, but the gate reached the top of the cave, making it impossible to climb. A large speaker was beside it.

Axton took it in, confused.

"This wasn't here before." He said, thinking out loud.

Zer0 jumped on the opportunity.

"Why how perceptive / of you, Axton. You are right!" He said, his tone mocking. "I had not noticed!"

Axton was thinking of a retort when a loud beep echoed through the cavern.

"Hello?" The proper voice was coming from the speaker. "The Firehawk isn't accepting visitors currently –Unless you have an appointment, of course."

Zer0 looked at Axton, smirking behind his Visor. The Commando had a similar expression on his face.

"And who might you be?" Asked Axton, trying not to laugh at the fact that this was now some form of office instead of a lair.

It was then that a man trotted into view behind the bars; A very very short man dressed in a dark blue suit, with a black tie.

He spoke. "**IF **you must know, my name is Joseph. Joseph Yoo Suk. And I-" He was cut off by Axton's laughter.

"Please!" He said gasping in between his fits of laughter. "What did you just say?"

The small man looked unamused, pushing back the sleeve of his blazer to look at his watch, before running a hand through his short hair.

"Yoo Suk. It is not THAT funny." He said, his face expressionless. "I'm the doorman."

"I'm sorry, it just sounds like-" Axton was cut off by the Doorman.

"Yes, yes. I know what it sounds like. And he says you're a Vault Hunter! I had assumed you to be more mature."

Axton's pride was hurt.

"Ah well!" Continued the doorman, basking in his victory.

"Let's go meet the Firehawk, shall we?"

**Well, I hope the rest of the chapters will be this long. Anyways, there was a hint in this chapter. I am not sure if by the time this is released, it will be irrelevant though.**

**Edit: I failed whoever read this before it was edited. Limbs and double commas oh my.**

**Sorry about that.**

**Anyways, Next time, on Chemical reaction!**

"Shit Shit Shit!" Axton cursed, trying to put out the fire spreading across his body.

"Stop drop and roll, fool / Have you never been on fire? / No, wait! Idiot!" Zer0 suggested, almost helpfully.

**Seeya!**


End file.
